2002 Acura RSX How can I tell if it is battery or alternato

AIRTAS

MEMBER
2002 ACURA RSX

2002 Acura RSX

So my car would not start the other day.

There was 48 hours between last use

After a jump all was well.

I left nothing on, what exactly happened, the battery is 18 months old.

Whats the easiest way to tell if it is a battery or alternator issue?

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi airtas,

If it is an alternator problem, you would not be abe to start after stopping as the battery would be drained. Further more, after the jump start, battery would not be striong to restart if it is not being charged.

If it is a battery problem, a high rate discharge test would reveal if it is bad.

Other possible causes are a drain and that can be due to sticking relays.

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Sunday, September 5th, 2010 AT 11:04 AM

AIRTAS

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After the battery was jumped it was putting out 14 volts, is it still possible the battery could be bad?

What would cause a sticking relay and how can I look for it?

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Sunday, September 5th, 2010 AT 11:21 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Putting out 14 volts meas the alternator is charging. After a few minutes of running, turn engine off and test battery condition. Test if you can start the engine. A bad battery would not allow you to restart.

A sticking relay is a bad relay that fails to turn off after power to the coil is disconnected. It would continue to run the components it is attached to, eg a radiator fan relay sticking would result in the radiator fan working even after the engine is turned off.

To test for power drain, you would have to disconnect the battery negative terminal and attach an ammeter in between to record the amperage. After a 10 minutes wait after hooking up the ammeter, note how many amperes is being drained. Anything more than 0.5 amp is bad.

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Monday, September 13th, 2010 AT 9:46 AM